People who are looking for something a little more “couture” in their sign projects are looking to the past, back to the days of the Painted Sign.
As sign painters have become an endangered species through the development of vinyl as the new sign medium, we are finding ways to use the technology in new ways to achieve an old look.Case in point – I was commissioned to help out with this project by a fun craft store, who hosted a workshop where participants built “Old Pallet Signs” like you see in the home deco stores these days.

The vinyl ended up only being used as a tool in the development of the sign, not in the finished piece. I appreciate that it took the scary part out of sign making for all the participants. It sounded like it was a pretty successful workshop though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it offered again in the near future. If you are interested, I suggest you give them a call. This process has a lot of potential to make a custom sign for your home, or a gift for a friend.

A friend of mine noticed me using my iPad last month, I guess it looked like it was helping me out. So he got one for himself, I figured I could point him in the right direction with a list of apps that I use all the time:

Inkflow – (FREE, but I bought the upgrade)
I wanted something to scribble notes in, this fit the bill great, even as a free app. When I found out that you can import photos and notes on the paid app, I bought that right away. That comes in real handy. Though you can use your finger to draw or write, I like to use the Jot Stylus I got at Staples for $20, it feels natural and more precise.

Flipboard (FREE!)
There are website I read regularly, they post interesting stories all the time. Rather than visiting each website, Flipboard does all the work for me, loading all the stories I want to read, in one easy to navigate app. I choose the content, and flip to the sections I feel like reading, just like a magazine.

Social Apps
Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest (FREE!)
I’m going to qualify these as a single point in this list just because social media should be all lumped together. Whether you socialize in Google+ or Facebook, or whatever, I think there is even a MySpace app. It’s a convenient way to stay in touch with friends. You can even integrate these apps into your Flipboard for a magazine style review.

Over (FREE!)
Thanks to these guys, I can import my favourite fonts into my iPad and use them over photos. You know I am a font addict, so I have a special place in my heart for apps that allow font customization.

Disclaimer – I get extra storage for each referral who signs up to dropbox via the above link. That hasn’t affected my rating, it is a valuable iPad resource.
You start out with a generous amount of storage space, but you can earn even more by referring friends in different ways, and installing it on your other workstations. This is a great way to share files over “the cloud”, or even back up data if you want. you can earn up to 16GB free storage, and buy more if you think you need it.

The iPad really is a helpful tool for me. it’s like a magic sketchbook that you can use to contact people, research things online, even manage a store and receive debit card purchases!

I know you meant to get to the store for some chocolates or whatever by now. You didn’t, and now it’s going to look all “last-minute-y”. Here you go, free for you to print and present to your sweetie. Print as many as you think she deserves. You’re welcome.

For those of you wondering what has been keeping me out of trouble this year so far, let me introduce you to my new place of employment, Big Ideas Marketing Co.

I needed to get back into the Design World, and these guys were happy to oblige, as long as I was willing to back them up as a sales contact as well.

Now, we all know I am no “salesman”, but the products are high quality and low cost, so it’s not exactly going to be difficult to make the sales. I just need to develop a network of people looking for marketing assistance. If you know of anyone looking for great business cards or trade show display pieces, or anything in between, please forward them my info, you’ll be helping them and me at the same time!